Ukraine’s TOP of IT outsourcing destinations: Kyiv

We have started a series of articles related to Ukraine’s TOP-5 outsourcing centers: Kyiv, Karkiv, Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa. There will be analyzed their pros and cons, their advantages in terms of location, number of specialists and prices.

If you choose to have your outsourcing partner in Ukraine, it is advisable to analyze the market in terms of software production costs, company’s reliability, suitable management, and considering whether the product is to be supported through the whole way from its development to presentation.

Capital city of Ukraine - Kyiv, except being the largest, is also viewed as the centre of Ukraine’s IT hub. Practically half of all IT developers live and work in Kyiv. It is not surprising that many of the talented specialists move to Kyiv seeking for higher payment and greater opportunities. However, capital’s offers are also limited. According to the recent statistics, with the population at about 3 million people, there are almost 70 various educational institutions providing IT related education. Since software development is considered one of the most popular, it is understandable why more and more young people want to occupy their place in the industry: it is trendy, interesting and brings a good income.

...the distance from Kyiv to London is 2402 km, Kyiv to Berlin is 1347 km, Kyiv to New York – 7520 km, whilst Delhi – London is 6719 km, Delhi to Berlin is 5787 km, and Delhi to New York – 11768 km...

One of Kyiv’s advantage is transport connections: getting from the city to world’s main capitals within few hours if compared to other main outsourcing destinations in Asia, which is a positive and beneficial for Ukraine.

However, Kyiv, except being very popular, is also the most expensive: cost of living index, rent of both office and apartment are the highest there. Its location is not so much beneficial, like Lviv’s, for instance. Yet, many specialists opt for Kyiv as immediately after graduating from university they can find a good place for work as many universities cooperate with the major IT companies. Secondly, the majority considers that working in Kyiv will bring other benefits due to having an experience in working in that part of Ukraine. Today, the situation changes and many of the aforementioned specialists change their place of residence in favor of working in other IT hubs like Lviv or Odesa due more favorable location: Lviv is the closest one to Europe, Odesa is a city-on-the-sea, hence, the trends are establishing into other directions. However, this does not mean the capital’s losing its positions.

Actually, it can’t. Except high living costs it offers higher salaries, conducts the main IT-related conferences and events on software development, outsourcing, recruiting and other industry constituents. Vast majority of experts claim Kyiv’s not going to lose its positions in the future, although other clusters are getting stronger as well. Alongside with offering great outsourcing resources, establishment of own full-stack product support companies is another positive trend. Many start-ups today have great support from local businessman in order to develop own branch completely based in Ukraine and functioning in favor of the country.

(Advanced info on these you will find in the next chapters of our Playbook). Of course, the salary depends on position and ranking in the company, however, these are way higher, than, the average salary in Ukraine, which depending on the region, vary from $146 to $175. This is one of the initial reason youths is IT-oriented, or, else, even adults, re-qualify them into the industry.

All in all, outsourcing to any of Ukraine’s top-5 cities is beneficial anyway: office support is also lower, although there are very few 1st class offices to offer, salaries and living cost allow the industry to be rather competitive and win the American and European potential clients. The market is open for new ideas and investors looking for unbiased and fresh vision of how to develop a successful software project within a sensible time span and high-quality result.

IT Outsourcing Review

Our Blog and Playbook provide you with an insight into the Ukrainian IT outsourcing industry aiming at helping to keep up with the latest news on IT outsourcing development in Ukraine and finding the best solution for you by analyzing the main trends of the market.